Philadelphia Union soccer player Zach Pfeffer signs a soccer ball for Haley Jackson during visit to Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School in Upper Merion January 15, 2014. Jackson, a fifth-grader at MTC, won a “Soccer Unites the World” art competition sponsored by Adidas America and Modell’s Sporting Goods. Pfeffer spoke with the students and performed a few skill drills before signing autographs. Photo by Gene Walsh/Times Herald Staff.

UPPER MERION — Haley Jackson, a fifth-grade student at Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School, took art to the athletic field and came out on top.

Haley recently received the news that she won the Adidas America and Modell’s Sporting Goods art contest, “Soccer Unites the World,” which contest gave students a chance to win prizes for their school by creating the designs for a world cup soccer ball.

Each individual student from a participating school was to draw what they thought an official 2014 World Cup match ball would look like, with the spirit of global unity as inspiration.

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Monique Martello, Mother Teresa’s art teacher, entered the school into the contest. Martello’s first step was to educate her students about Brazil, which will be hosting the 2014 World Cup.

Martello introduced her children to Brazilian culture and showed them visuals of the Brazilian landscape.

“As an art teacher in our modern age with kids connected to the Internet, it’s important to have projects with good visuals that expose students to other cultures,” Martello said.

Haley took Martello’s lesson to heart.

“We saw all these images of Brazil and I wanted to use the Jesus fish,” Haley said. “So I started with that and then added the city in the background.”

Haley’s work was chosen among thousands of entries from hundreds of schools across Pennsylvania. As a reward, Philadelphia Union soccer player Zack Pfeffer came to the school to congratulate her.

Haley was not the only excited fifth-grader at Mother Teresa Wednesday morning. Pfeffer gave each fifth-grader grader a signed 2014 World Cup official match ball.

Pfeffer, accompanied by Modell’s Community Ambassador Marc Torriero, announced that the school would be receiving $1,000 in gift cards to Modell’s for athletic equipment for the school’s gym classes.

Before distributing the bright green balls to their ecstatic recipients, Pfeffer spoke to the children about the importance of an active lifestyle that meshes with education. The 19-year-old Pfeffer recently graduated high school and is starting to take classes while training with the Union.

Pfeffer admitted that his parents have always stressed education. He told the children how education is crucial to success not only in life but athletics as well.

Pfeffer answered students’ eager questions. His third favorite color besides the Union’s yellow and blue is green. He once played against his soccer idol Christiano Renaldo. His most memorable soccer moment was scoring upper corner from 35 yards out in his opening season with the Union. And his juggling record is 7,100 touches.

When asked if he ever scored with a bicycle kick, Pfeffer admitted he tried it once but it did not go near the net.

“If you’re going to score,” Pfeffer said. “You have to try.”

Pfeffer then demonstrated his juggling skills for the students, showing them tricks and giving them tips on getting better by sticking to their practice.

After the juggling demonstration, students lined up with their signed balls to get a photo with the professional soccer player.

The students gave Pfeffer and Haley both a big thank you at the end of the assembly.

As for Haley’s future as a soccer player, she admitted that she has two career paths in mind.